Anyone who has been to San Diego Comic-Con in the past 15 years can tell you that getting into the big panels, the really big panels, in Hall H is a challenge. You line up the day before, swapping in and out of line shifts, get a wristband, come back unnaturally early to be in line again, and then sometimes, spend the entire day sitting through some very cool panels to see the one you’re actually there for. The reasons why the wait’s so long to get into Hall H are as follows:
- Hall H doesn’t get cleared between panels.
- A majority of the panels have huge appeal and pull.
3.Hall H doesn’t get cleared because getting 6500 people out-and-in takes a lot of time that could be used by panels. About two hours to clear which we know because…
They’re clearing Hall H on Thursday.
When the Deadpool & Wolverine panel in Hall H was announced around 10am PST on July 15th, everyone who had previously been planning to attend Hall H panels on that day (Thursday, so Transformers One, 25 Years of Spongebob Squarepants, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and the What We Do In The Shadows Farewell Tour Kick Off) started panicking. This change about how they operate meant that instead of potentially walking in for something they loved, fans would need to camp out Wednesday night and skip significant chunks of their Thursday plans depending on what panel they were going for. Fans of WWDitS were especially discouraged. Would it be worth trying?
And then one hour later, something new dropped: Registration for a Hall H panel.
The two-hour gap between WWDitS now makes sense. San Diego Comic Con is, for the first time, clearing Hall H so people who want to see the panels before the biggest one of the day can still get in, and people who just want to see the Deadpool and Wolverine panel don’t have to devote multiple hours to it.
This is a huge positive for all of those fans but it brings a question of what this might signal going forward?
Hall H being crowded is a plus for the Exhibition Floor, other panels, and activations around the city. With last year’s Hall H not having as many huge draws and being walk-in almost the entire time, the floor was nearly unbearable to navigate, especially if you’re disabled or using a stroller. No one was pulled away. No one was camping. You could actually feel the 130,000 attendees.
If this clearing is a one-time thing, it’s awesome. If they do it going forward, it’s going to mean fewer massive panels (that 2-hour gap could have been a panel, after all,) and it’s going to mean everything else is more packed. Yes, it will also mean fans have a greater chance of seeing what they specifically want to see in Hall H, but will it be worth it if everything else takes more effort?
I’m excited to see how this pans out. I’m expecting a lot of stories of confusion from fans who aren’t perpetually online who have no idea Hall H is being cleared, or that there’s separate registration for this single panel. I’m expecting to hear from a lot of very happy fans of the earlier Thursday panels. And I’m expecting a lot of people to be watching to see what this signals for next year.
Stay tuned for more SDCC ’24 coverage from The Beat.
